Has Project Natal Found Its Wii Sports? When Will We Finally See Actual Games?

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Project Natal might have a release window of during the holidays, but that doesn't answer the litany of questions that remain about Microsoft's entry into motion gaming. Since its E3 reveal, we've seen tech demos and examples of how Project Natal can graft onto existing gaming experiences, but Microsoft and third-parties have remained quiet on games developed for the ground up for Project Natal.

I asked Xbox group product manager Aaron Greenberg about this problem at CES last week, proposing that users can only remain interested in the possibilities of Project Natal for so long.

"I would say that right now the team [at Microsoft] is working really hard on making, bringing those experiences -- doing the development phase of that," said Greenberg.

Okay, so when will we see the games?

"I would expect at E3 we'll share a lot more of those types of details," he confirmed.

That makes sense. E3 it is, then. But potential must be realized. It's difficult to imagine a world where Nintendo didn't launch Wii with Wii Sports, bundled with the hardware or not. Wii Sports translated the potential of Nintendo's motion dreams into a simple, tangible, easily demonstrable product. As games start coming together for Project Natal, Microsoft must be in search of its Wii Sports equivalent.

I asked Greenberg whether Microsoft had found its Wii Sports for Project Natal.

"I think we've seen some stuff recently that has the team really excited," he said in an understandably vague tone, given Microsoft's continued secrecy about actual games for the add-on. "There's a -- this is going to sound kind of cheesy -- there is a magical feeling with some of the stuff. I think a lot of people always have that skepticism around when you see anything like this. You're like 'it sounds amazing, the video was incredible, the demos on stage were great, but does it really work?'"